Implementing Solutions to Optimize Energy Consumption and Fight Climate Change

Autostrade per l'Italia –100 percent owned by shareholder Atlantia S.p.A., which is responsible for investments and strategies in the transport and communications infrastructure and networks sector – is the leading European concessionaire for toll motorway management and for related transport services with a network of more than 3,400 km in Italy. The company is also present abroad as it holds shares in South America, Poland, and United States with a motorway network equivalent to 800 km.

Autostrade per l’Italia launched a series of initiatives, in line with Italian and EU energy and environment objectives, promoting the use of renewable sources for the production of electricity and improvement of energy efficiency for buildings and infrastructure. This commitment has already produced significant results in terms of CO2 emissions avoided. The company’s five‐year plan (2008–2013) provides for initiatives in the following sectors:

• reduction of electrical energy from renewable sources
• electrical-energy savings for tunnel and service-area lighting
• improvement of energy efficiency in the main office buildings and outlying structures (section departments, maintenance points, snow points)

In 2008, Autostrade per l’Italia launched a Photovoltaic Plan that consists of the installation of solar panel shelters in 92 Service Areas and that will provide production of around 5,600,000 kW/year in the headquarters of Rome and Florence and in the nine section departments. At the end of 2009, apart from the solar panel shelters incorporated into the roofs of the parking areas in the Rome South tollgate, Prenestina East, and Mascherone West service areas – providing an overall installed capacity of around 100 kilowatt-peak (kWp) – a solar panel shelter has been installed in the roof of the employee parking area at the Rome headquarters and has a capacity of around 473.8 kWp.

This solar panel plant can satisfy roughly 15 percent of the overall energy consumption registered at the Rome headquarters. The main technical characteristics are:

• covered surface area of approximately 4,032 square meters, the equivalent of 120 parking spaces
• production of electricity is expected to be around 635,000 kWh/year
• an estimated environmental benefit in terms of savings of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere of around 350 tons/year

The new solar plant is part of the “Green Building” project that was finalized to make Rome headquarters independent regarding energy consumption and “carbon neutral” as well. The “Green Building” project is going to develop over 2010 through efficiency improvements in the production of electrical, thermal, and cooling energy (tri‐generation) and consumption optimization as well. This initiative, to be considered as a pilot project, might be adopted elsewhere.

In 2009, regarding the photovoltaic plants in Service Areas, 15 solar panel plants with a capacity of around 767 kWp and a production of electricity that is expected to be around 1,000 MWh/year have been put in service. For 2010 the company aims to double the installed photovoltaic capacity with more plants in the office buildings and Service Areas. In 2009 the savings of CO2 emissions was 133 tons, thanks to photovoltaic plants. The 2010 target will be about 1,400 tons. Regarding motorway network tunnels, Autostrade per l’Italia has an energy savings plan in progress. The project involves the gradual replacement of traditional high-pressure sodium lighting with more efficient, permanent LED lighting. This innovative initiative will result in considerable energy savings and a reduction in CO2 indirect emissions of about 40 percent and the lowering of system maintenance costs while retaining the required safety standards.

In 2009 a total of 6,378 lighting installations were replaced, resulting in a savings of CO2 emissions of around 411 tons. For 2010 a further 10,766 LED lighting installations will be installed and provide an annual energy savings of around 4 GWh, bringing an estimated environmental benefit in terms of savings of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere to around 2,120 tons.

Through the adoption of these projects, the company joined the Patto per l’ambiente, an agreement signed in July 2009 between the Environment Ministry of Italy and 11 large Italian firms. The agreement provides for binding commitments for emission reductions, exploitation of environmentally-friendly resources, the spread of high-efficiency technologies, and diversification of power sources. Strong environmental benefits can be achieved by initiatives to improve traffic flow (i.e., network upgrades, spread of automatic toll systems) and projects involving motorway network users. In 2009 Autostrade per l’Italia launched its first project for carpooling on highways. Carpooling is a suitable alternative to traditional mobility and involves using only one car to transport people who share same route. This results in significant environmental benefits by reducing traffic and increasing the economic benefits for the passengers due to sharing of transport costs (fuel, tolls, etc.).

The initiative, which involves customers who travel the A8 and A9 highways daily from Como and Varese to Milan and back, both helps to reduce levels of pollution and to improve traffic flow on a particularly busy road affected by construction work. The carpooling project includes:

• a web platform to facilitate the matching of supply and demand
• dedicated track toll
• a discount for cars carrying at least four people